CELEBRITY TOUCH

'Celebrity Touch' is the taster if you like, the intro to the new Riverside album. It came out with an edgey video clip with a celebrity portrayed going down in to the abyss as their life is consumed by self obsession, alcoholism, sexual grandeur and finally madness. It is certainly an eye opener and not for the squeamish even showing quite explicit encounters with groupies and an eerie masking over a deformity until the celebrity transforms into a mummified zombie. Of course it has been done before with Pink Floyd's "The Wall" with the transmogrification of a rock star into a nazi dictator. Madness seems to be a concept that many artists like to focus on as it becomes an incarnation of humanity being degraded by mass consumption.

Musically the song is very different than anything else on the actual album "Shrine of New Generation Slaves" (SONGS) and is perhaps not the high point of an album that is a masterpiece to my ears. The song is on this single in two forms but the album format, the longest, is the best way to enjoy it. The album track opens with killer driller riffs that have an intricate time sig. Duda's vocals are crystal clear and work well with the electrifying keyboard and guitar driven punctuation. It is a heavy song with some magnificent syncopated rhythms. There are some higher vocals in the background too that augment the tranquil atmospheres generated in the quieter verses. It has an infectious melody in the chorus and moves along at an energetic pace. This is a very nice composition with layers of musicianship of the highest quality. It really grew on me with that bassline and crunching guitar riff. I love Duda's lyrics on the dangers and hypocrisy of celebrity status, the lies and fabrication of maintaining a false fa'ade that will please the masses but in in the end is an empty existence; 'In the center of attention, TV, Glossy magazines, My private life is public, I sell everything, Days are getting shorter, They'll forget about me soon, So I jump on the bandwagon, With no taboos.' This sentiment could represent any celebrity who is trapped by public attention, something that is craved but when it is gained the celebrity abhors being the subject of hysteria as their life becomes a tomb, their home a prison, it is a sobering thought. It is little wonder celebrities become cynical and crazy, jumping on a bandwagon with no taboos, as sometimes they are given little choice as products of consumer hell.

Get the album just stop reading this and get the danged album - it is a bonafide masterpiece.